CCGL9065: Our Response to Climate Change: HK2100

Food Systems

Dr. Hongshan Guo and Class

Quick Recap From Two Weeks Ago

  • ‘Us against the AI’
  • Role-played as Pro/Anti-CC experts and different professions
  • Did a little bit of work on Notion
  • Skipped the Group Discussion

Logistic Questions

  • Tutorial Assignments?
    • Pick your time slots
    • CIC-Badged so starting off with reflective writing for T1/T2 (W2/W3)
  • Notion Pages and how that works?
    • Refer to Annoucement Email on publishing and submitting
    • Submit URL Only shared as published site
    • Due EOD every Wednesday

CCGL9065: Our Response to Climate Change

Address Common Concerns on Pro/Anti-CC

  • Take Climate Change Pro/Against as stances
  • Discuss complex issues each week from various angles
  • Familiarize with common/uncommon narratives
  • Role-play as people from different social pockets

A little Brain-Storming with Pro-CC Stances

  • Highlight how climate change impacts these areas and propose sustainable solutions or adaptations.
  • Tailor arguments to weekly themes to win more support through narratives/visuals/videos that shapes different people’s perceptions
  • Raise awareness from public on why being more/less climate-friendly is relevant to everybody.
  • Propose Solutions to theme-related challenges

Food Systems - What do we know about them?

Some of the hottest topics on food systems

  • Plant-based diets/meat alternatives
    • Shifting towards plant-based eating and rise of lab-grown meat
  • Food waste reduction
    • Strategies to minimize food waste throughout the supply chain from farm to table
  • Regenerative agriculture:
    • Farming practices that sequester carbon in soil, improve biodiversity and enhance ecosystem resilience.
  • Vertical farming and urban agriculture
  • Sustainable fishing: over-fishing?
  • Carbon labeling of food products

Meat Alternatives & Climate Change: The Debate

Scientific Pros

  • 30-90% fewer greenhouse gas emissions
  • Significantly reduced land use
  • Lower water consumption

Scientific Cons

  • Energy-intensive processing for some alternatives
  • Potential monoculture issues (e.g., soy, peas)
  • Nutritional profile differences

Narrative Pros

  • Innovative tech solution to climate change
  • Enables “ethical consumption”
  • Potential to improve global food security

Narrative Cons

  • Perception as “overly processed” food
  • Cultural resistance to traditional dish substitutes
  • Accusations of “greenwashing”

Cutting-Edge Discussions

  1. Cell-based meat: Promise vs. reality
  2. Hybrid products: A transitional solution?
  3. Algae and mycoprotein: The next frontier
  4. Local vs. imported: Which is better?
  5. Holistic assessments: Beyond just emissions
  6. Policy impacts on climate benefits

Key Takeaway

Meat alternatives offer significant potential for climate change mitigation, but challenges remain. The debate is complex, involving science, culture, and policy.

Some Interesting Representation of those ideas - For-CC on Meat

Some Interesting Representation of those ideas - Against-CC on Meat

Group Assignment Time!

Presentation Countdown

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